Memories

Today the summer of 2008 officially drew to a close with autumnal equinox. Rightfully so, the weather is a little bit more cloudy after weeks of sunshine. I can say it is pretty cool that the summer went out with a blast of sunshine.

Summer of 2008 yielded some great moments, which kicked off with my extended family and ended with seeing some old friends. It was a good summer of memories from the parties, late evenings in good company, summer festivities, outdoor concerts, trips to Chicago and Stone Harbor, acquiring a personal conservatory and moving into an apartment.

It’s sad in away to feel the summer end, but it’s nice having them to look forward to. Besides, fall isn’t too bad from the oktoberfests, costume parties, Thanksgiving and ofcourse football! So I think I’m not going to dwell on the end of summer but look forward to the apple and pumpkin pies with the fall garden vegetables. (After all, I like food - including dry ramen noodles.)

So with that, I bid Summer ado till 2009 and welcome Fall 2008 with one of my many favorite photos which remind me of “Fall” in America. Here is one of those that still has a slight summer feel. (I can’t take credit for this photo, it was just a random find - thank someone over at Kitchenography.)

This past weekend I ventured northwest on Southwest for a weekend in the windy city. An absolutely fantastic time with some amazing food. The plane ticket alone merits the pizza experience; I’d easily get a pizza once a week if I lived within distance. The popcorn in that city is just as stunning - we had the buttered mix. With my health conscious locked away for the weekend, there was some good food to be had. Plus, the views of the city, great weather, public transport and fantastic friends all add to the great Chicago taste.

I suppose I should also credit Southwest for a good trip as well. Infact, Southwest exceeded my expectations with the complimentary peanuts and drinks. I didn’t know those were still included as part of the flights? Props to Southwest. Plus, there is the whole Skymall experience… who doesn’t like making a wish list?

Some picks from the weekend:

Chicago Pizza  Cloud Gate

Sears tower Chi Town

Meeeeeee

As I question why my home state wants another Clinton in the White House… (really, my whole life aside from the first 4 years has either been a Bush or a Clinton in the white house)… Do we really need to keep control of the country under the same 2 families? Do we really need someone that doesn’t know how to be a leader or take on the responsibility associated with leadership? Do we really need someone who lies and back-stabs at every waking moment? Do we really need someone who will in all likely keep Washington status-quo?

While exploring the saturday paper on sunday, I came across an interesting article about the origin of cyber hackers. 

When I was growing up my grandfather use to have a large model HO railroad setup in his basement year round. Then when I was in the 5th grade he gave it to us for our basement.

I thought the coolest thing was all the wires and the controls that made everything work - and the possibilities it brought. I loved how you could easily rewire something and create all sorts of cool effects.

Eventually working with trains led to much other “hacking” of other electronic pieces of equipment and even several electrical creations. Which with several dots in between, dropped me in the fields of interest that I am currently entangled with.

My ‘Work’ Bench:

One of the many light boards. Several have said this the safest looking one I’ve created…

So when I saw this article I thought it was ironic that hackers had there origin with model trains, because that is how I got my interest in electronics and computers.